With today’s start of the Black Desert Online European / North American alpha, thousands of players who have never tried any of the other international versions (Korean, Japanese, Russian) will be entering the game for the first time. With that in mind, there are a few things everyone should know before that initial log in, so we have prepared a small list to help with those first shaky steps into a new world.
These are presented in no particular order after the one about the tutorial. Though we tried to come up with very general tips for new players, do keep in mind that these suggestions are based on the Russian version of BDO and it’s possible that things will be altered slightly for the EU/NA version.
Do the tutorial!
This is probably one of the most important tips of all. While similar in many ways to most MMOs, there are things that can be quite different so the tutorial is strongly suggested. From level one to about fifteen or so, it’s important to follow the linear questing path to make sure you get access to all the inventory bags possible as well as the donkey mount. It’s amazing how great riding that donkey will feel when you finally attain it. Not to mention that bag space is at a premium and having as many inventory slots as you can is a good thing.
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Beat up training dummies!
Never neglect the experience that can be gained from beating up training dummies, both for true experience and for learning the nuances of your chosen class. Surprising but true!
Look for blue highlighted quest mobs
There are two things that everyone starting in BDO needs to know about the 1-15 experience: 1) You will see the same enemies over and over and over ad nauseum; and 2) that you need to get used to looking for the blue outline on those specific creatures you need to kill to complete your mission. Given that they’re all jumbled in together, it’s important that you’re killing the ones you actually need.
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Prepare for epically long battles due to quest monsters being way over-level.
One of the biggest criticisms of the RU BDO is that questing from 1-15 was considered to be very bumpy from the standpoint that quests were often 3+ levels higher than a character’s level. This gap increased until about 5+ levels and character level 15. Fortunately that gap closed quickly on reaching the major quest hubs. As a result, battles can take a very long time to complete. We'll see if this is the case with NA and EU, but it was in RU!
Look for different types of quests!
Black Desert Online features a whopping seven different quest types each with its own bonuses and experience to move players along to higher, more interesting levels of the game:
- General quests: Given by any NPC
- Main storyline quests: the lore of the game is revealed
- Black Spirit quests: these progress your character’s black spirit
- Explore quests: these unlock new areas of the game
- Trade quests: collecting and using trade goods
- Crafting quests: these lead to production of items
- Repeatable quests: these can be completed at various intervals
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Build a route & autorun - the chronic Wrong Way Corrigan’s best friend!
Given how enormous the starter zones are and how easy it is to get lost, using this feature will become a welcome addition to your beginner’s toolkit. Using the quest helper on the right side of the interface will allow you to create a marked pathway to the NPC or location you’re looking for and to even hit an autorun feature that, while somewhat circuitous, will get you where you need to go in no time.
Let’s Not Forget...
Don’t think for a second that this is the end-all-be-all of what can be done in Black Desert Online. While working through the earliest stages of your game, be sure to collect and hold onto things as you move along because nearly everything has a use later on in any number of other areas including:
- player housing
- reputation grinds
- guilds with their attendant quests
- PvP
- gathering and crafting
- trading
- gaining knowledge
- item enhancement and socketing
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So there you have it, a few things to get you started in today’s Black Desert Online alpha test. What are you most looking forward to seeing in BDO? What class will you be trying out? Leave us your thoughts in the comments.
